Our present invention relates to brassiere fasteners, particularly for the back strap of a brassiere and, in general, to so-called hook-and-eye fasteners generally used to interconnect two garment parts, especially, the parts of the back strap of a brassiere, or to snap-type and push button closures which can be used between garment parts. The invention is also applicable to fasteners for the cups of brassieres (as in maternity brassieres), to crotch fasteners in body suits and wherever secure closing and rapid and convenient opening is desirable in garments.
The invention, in particular, relates to strap fasteners of the type described in copending application Ser. No. 09/443,082 filed Nov. 18, 1999.
In the past, the back strap of a brassiere has been connected via hook-and-eye fasteners in which, on one strap part, at least one and usually a multiplicity of hooks are provided for engagement into eyes correspondingly provided on another part of the strap. For wide straps the hooks and eyes can be provided two or three abreast and, to allow adjustability, one of the fastener members, either the hooks or eyes, may be spaced apart along the length of one of the strap portions. Where two or three fastener elements are provided across the width of the strap portion, rows of the elements may be spaced apart in the length of that fastener element.
While hook-and-eye fasteners of this type are convenient for fastening behind the back of the wearer, the nature of the hook caused the hook to press into the back of the wearer when, for example, the wearer might lean back against a supporting surface.
While press-button or snap-type fasteners are also known to couple fabric parts together, a press button being provided on one part with, for example, a mushroom-shaped compressible pin or projection and a receiving member on the other garment but formed with a hole which may be undercut to allow the head of the projection to engage beneath a rim or other formation, such fasteners are difficult to secure behind one""s back because of the problem of aligning the pin with the hole and thus have not been successful as brassiere fasteners or the like.
Furthermore, the kind of adjustability and ease of connection afforded by hook-and-eye fasteners is not characteristic of earlier press button or snap-type fasteners.
The aforementioned copending application, which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference, inter alia provides a fastener system which has characteristics of a press button or snap-type fastener and utilizes disk-shaped male and female halves which are connected by pin-and-eye formations and which, when joined, provide a particularly thin closure which can be separated by pulling apart the male and female fastener halves transversely to the tapes upon which they are provided.
Although this kind of closure represents a major advantage, particularly for back straps of brassieres, it is capable of further improvement.
It is, therefore, the principal object of the present invention to provide an improved garment closure which further develops the principles set forth in our copending application Ser. No. 09/443,082 and at the same time accomplishes the objects there set forth in a particularly convenient and effective manner.
It is another object of this invention to provide and improved garment fastener which is highly compact and comfortable for the garment wearer and is characterized by ease of manufacture, ease of connection and separation and particular suitability for delicate garments which might otherwise be damaged by washing or cleaning processes.
Still another object of the invention is to provide an improved brassiere fastener without many of the drawbacks of earlier hook-and-eye fasteners.
It is also an object of the invention to provide an improved method of making a garment fastener and especially a fastener for the back strap of the brassiere.
Another object is to provide an improved hook-and-eye and push button fastener which advances the principles of application Ser. No. 09/562,179.
These objects and others which will become apparent hereinafter are attained, in accordance with the invention, in a garment fastener which comprises:
a male fastener half injection-moldable onto a first tape and adapted to be secured to one part of a garment, the male fastener half being formed with a generally flat circular body having an outer body portion on one side of the first tape and an inner body portion on another side of the first tape, a pin projecting generally centrally from the inner body portion, and a head formed on the pin; and
a female fastener half injection-moldable onto a second tape and adapted to be secured to another part of the garment, the female fastener half being formed with a generally flat circular body having an outer body portion on one side of the second tape and an inner body portion on another side of the second tape, the inner body portion having an eyelet dimensioned to receive and retain the head and an inlet slot leading to the eyelet through which the pin is laterally insertable, the head being withdrawable from the eyelet in a direction perpendicular to the tapes.
According to the invention, the slot has an inwardly convergent mouth and the head, which can be split for flexibility, is tapered from a narrow portion to a thick portion in a direction of insertion of the pin into the eyelet through the slot. The inner portion of the female fastener half can have inclined flanks engaging the head and guiding the head into the eyelet.
As in our earlier fastener it is highly advantageous to provide the inner body portion of one of the fastener halves as a convex element and the inner body portion of the other fastener half as a concave element which receives the convex inner body portion of the first fastener half in a nested relationship.
According to another aspect of the invention, each of the tapes may have a plurality of the respective fastener halves spaced apart thereon in a row transverse to the aforementioned insertion direction and for adjustability of the back strap, at least the tape provided with the female fastener members may have a plurality of such rows longitudinally spaced thereon.
The tapes may each be covered at least on one side with a brushed fabric strip ultrasonically welded to the tape along the edges and the garment part can be stitched or otherwise fastened between the respective tape and the brushed fabric strips.
The tapes can be woven of a synthetic resin yarn and the fastener halves can be composed of polyoxymethylene (POM) or polyamide (PA).
A brassiere according to the invention can have a back strap, portions of which are interconnected by at least one garment fastener comprising:
a male fastener half injection-moldable onto a first tape and adapted to be secured to one portions of the back strap, the male fastener half being formed with a generally flat circular body having an outer body portion on one side of the first tape and an inner body portion on another side of the first tape, a pin projecting generally centrally from the inner body portion, and a head formed on the pin;
a female fastener half injection-moldable onto a second tape and adapted to be secured to another of the portions of the back strap, the female fastener half being formed with a generally flat circular body having an outer body portion on one side of the second tape and an inner body portion on another side of the second tape, the inner body portion having an eyelet dimensioned to receive and retain the head and an inlet slot leading to the eyelet through which the pin is laterally insertable, the head being withdrawable from the eyelet in a direction perpendicular to the tapes; and
a respective brushed fabric strip covering at least one side of each tape and ultrasonically welded to the respective tape along longitudinal weld seams, the respective part or portion of the back strap being inserted between each tape and the respective strip and being affixed thereto.
The method of the invention for making a garment fastener or a brassiere in which such a garment fastener is used can comprise:
(a) injection molding a multiplicity of male fastener halves onto a first woven synthetic-resin fabric band, the male fastener halves each being formed with a generally flat circular body having an outer body portion on one side of the first band and an inner body portion on another side of the first band, a pin projecting generally centrally from the inner body portion, and a head formed on the pin;
(b) injection molding a multiplicity of female fastener halves onto a second woven synthetic-resin fabric band, each of the female fastener halves being formed with a generally flat circular body having an outer body portion on one side of the second band and an inner body portion on another side of the second band, the inner body portion having an eyelet dimensioned to receive and retain the head and an inlet slot leading to the eyelet through which the pin is laterally insertable;
(c) covering at least one side of each of the bands with a strip of brushed knit fabric and ultrasonically welding the respective strip to the respective band along opposite longitudinal edges thereof to form respective weld seams having gaps therein;
(d) transversely severing the first band at gaps in the weld seams thereof to form first tapes each having at least one of the male fastener halves thereon and transversely severing the second band at gaps in the weld seams thereof to form second tapes each having at least one of the female fastener halves thereon, openings being provided between each tape and the respective strip at an end of the respective tape; and
(e) inserting a respective garment portion into each of the openings and securing the respective garment portion to the respective tape and strip.
One of the advantages of the method of the invention is that the free ends of the tape/strip assembly to which the respective portions of the back strap are connected can be separated from the respective hands by cold cutting so that they remain relatively soft. Having not been stiffened by a heated cutting tool there is less likelihood of injury to the wearer from the fastener parts. The halves, when they are joined together by hooking motion, form a relatively thin flat closure without the danger of pressing into the back of the wearer. The thinness of the closure makes it less likely that the back strap of the brassiere will show through the outer garment of the wearer. The parts of the fastener can be connected by the standard hook-and-eye motion to which brassiere wearers are accustomed, although opening of the brassiere can be facilitated because the parts of the closure can be separated by simply pulling the strap parts apart.
We have found further that it is advantageous, when the head is split, to provide the female fastener half with a wedge-shaped projection opposite the inlet slot and engageable in the crevice to cam the parts of the split head apart upon insertion of the male fastener half into the female fastener half. This ensures a firm engagement of the two fastener halves and increases the ability of the garment fastener to withstand tensile, sheer and transverse stresses on the fastener.
It should also be mentioned that, while the male fastener half is inserted into the female fastener half by a sliding action analogous to the insertion of the hook into an eye for a conventional hook-and-eye fastener, it is also possible to press the head of the male fastener half into the female fastener half and to attach the two parts like a press button fastener. Of course, in either case, the male fastener half can be pulled out of the female fastener half to open the fastener by pulling apart the tapes in essentially the same direction in which the male fastener half has been hooked into one of the female fastener halves.
It has been found to be advantageous, further, to provide the tapes with some degree of resilience and that can be achieved by providing a cushion layer between the woven layer forming the carrier for the male or female fastener half and the outer layer which is usually a knitted strip, is ultrasonically welded to the woven strip and, on its surface turned toward the body of the wearer, has a brushed texture. In this case, the tapes where they press against the body are relatively soft. After the ultrasonic welding to provide the longitudinal seams along the edges of the tape, the tape can be transversely cold cut without forming a sharp edge during the mounting of the tape on the garment.
The fact that the strip which carries the male or female fastener half is a woven tape, ensures greater support for the male or female fastener half and thus the strength with which the tape resists tearing.
Finally we should mention that it has been found to be advantageous in some cases to provide at least one of the male and female halves as a tape which is a soft plastic film and which can, if desired, be a transparent film.
While the male and female fastener halves have been described as having circular bodies and a circular configuration may be preferred, it has been found to be advantageous in many cases to simply make the bodies annular and of either oval or circular configuration.